November 15, 2011

New computer chip models how
neurons communicate with each other at synapses.

(November 15, 2011) For decades, scientists have dreamed of
building computer systems that could replicate the human brain’s talent for
learning new tasks.

MIT researchers have now taken a
major step toward that goal by designing a computer chip that mimics how the
brain’s neurons adapt in response to new information. This phenomenon, known as
plasticity, is believed to underlie many brain functions, including learning
and memory.

With about 400 transistors, the
silicon chip can simulate the activity of a single brain synapse — a connection
between two neurons that allows information to flow from one to the other. The
researchers anticipate this chip will help neuroscientists learn much more
about how the brain works, and could also be used in neural prosthetic devices
such as artificial retinas, says Chi-Sang Poon, a principal research scientist
in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

November 2, 2011

(November 2, 2011) For thousands of years humans have spoken.
Noam Chomsky and many other linguists argue that speech is what sets Homo
sapiens apart in the animal kingdom. “Speech,” wrote Aristotle, “is the
representation of the mind.”

It is a complex process, the
series of lightning-quick steps by which your thoughts form themselves into
words and travel from your brain, via the tongue, lips, vocal folds, and jaw
(together known as the articulators), to your listeners’ ears—and into their
own brains.

Complex, but mappable. Over the
course of two decades and countless experiments using functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) and other methods of data collection, neuroscientist
Frank Guenther has built a computer model describing just how your brain pulls
off the trick of speaking.

And the information isn’t merely
fascinating. Guenther (GRS’93), a Sargent College professor of speech, language
and hearing sciences, believes his model will help patients suffering from
apraxia (where the desire to speak is intact, but speech production is
damaged), stuttering, Lou Gehrig’s disease, throat cancer, even paralysis.

November 1, 2011

(November 1, 2011) Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) held an event
today here at its vehicle display space and theme park Mega Web to display a
number of new robots developed to provide support in nursing and
healthcare. The robots form part of the
Toyota Partner Robot series, which is being developed to assist humans in their
everyday activities.

TMC considers Partner Robots to
be useful in four fields: nursing and healthcare, short-distance personal
transport, manufacturing and domestic duties.
TMC is developing technology that cooperates with humans, including
devices that assist in the loading and moving of heavy components in factories,
in addition to automated technology that enables autonomous tool operation.

TMC endeavors to provide the
freedom of mobility to all people, and understands from its tie-ups with the
Toyota Memorial Hospital and other medical facilities that there is a strong
need for robots in the field of nursing and healthcare. TMC aims to support independent living for
people incapacitated through sickness or injury, while also assisting in their
return to health and reducing the physical burden on caregivers.

Each robot incorporates the
latest in advanced technologies developed by TMC, including high-speed,
high-precision motor control technology, highly stable walking-control
technology advanced through development of two-legged robots, and sensor
technology that detects the user's posture as well as their grasping and
holding strength.

(November 1, 2011) Human memory has historically defied precise
scientific description, its biological functions broadly but imperfectly
defined in psychological terms. In a pair of papers published in the November 2
issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of
California, San Diego report a new methodology that more deeply parses how and
where certain types of memories are processed in the brain, and challenges
earlier assumptions about the role of the hippocampus.

Specifically, Larry R. Squire,
PhD, a Research Career scientist at the VA Medical Center, San Diego and
professor of psychiatry, neurosciences, and psychology at UC San Diego, and
Christine N. Smith, PhD, a project scientist, say that contrary to current
thinking the hippocampus (a small seahorse-shaped structure located deep in the
center of the brain and long associated with memory function) supports both
recollection and familiarity memories when these memories are strong.

Recollection and familiarity
memory are two components of recognition memory – the ability to identify an
item as having been previously encountered. Recollection memory involves
remembering specific details about a learning episode, such as where and when
the episode occurred. Familiarity memory refers to remembering an item as
previously encountered, but without any recall of specific details, such as
recognizing someone’s face but recalling nothing else about that person (For
example, where you met the person.).

About Me

Graduated from University of Marmara, Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Design of Industrial Products and completed her dissertation titled "A Review on the Effects of the Trends & Periods on the Structural Constructions on the Products That are Associated With Consumer Electronics" in the same department for her Master’s Degree.

Lectured at University of Anatolia, Department of Industrial Products on part-time basis. Currently, she has been lecturing on part-time basis Faculty of Arts & Science, Department of Industrial Products Design at University of Doğuş.

She was the Head of ETMK Istanbul Branch from February 2010 to June 2011.

She took part in many competitions and projects as a member of advisory board and jury. Currently, she is the acting executive officer coordinating various projects between the Industry and University at the company where she is employed.

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